Tractor collides with Manitoba Hydro tower, temporarily cutting capacity on major transmission lines
'Risk of electrocution is great in these situations,' spokesperson says, urging clearance permits for farmers
Manitoba Hydro is cautioning farmers about operating equipment near its infrastructure after a tractor pulling a piece of equipment collided with a hydro tower this week, causing the Crown corporation to lose about a quarter of its transmission capacity.
Two of Manitoba Hydro's three main transmission lines were at partial capacity since Tuesday, after a farm tractor pulling a piece of equipment knocked down a tower near Grosse Isle in the Interlake area.
"The towers are designed to withstand reasonable forces, you know, high winds … snow, ice. But a large piece of machinery banging into it, there isn't much that's going to withstand that," Hydro spokesperson Peter Chura said in an interview Friday.
Chura added while there was "significant loss in transmission capacity, which is never good news," there wasn't a great load on the system at the time — meaning customers were virtually unaffected despite the loss of about 1,400 megawatts of the system's peak transmission capacity of 6,100 megawatts.
He said while that loss was on the Bipole I line, that line also carries energy for the Bipole II line — both of which help deliver generating capacity from the Nelson River in northern Manitoba to southern Manitoba.
Media relations officer Chura said if those lines had gone down in the height of summer or winter, when people generally use more electricity, Hydro may have had to rely on emergency sources of energy, including firing up the Brandon generating station or using transmission lines to and from the United States.
Chura said crews have replaced the damaged high-voltage tower in Manitoba's Interlake area, and the transmission lines were due to go back in service Friday.
WATCH | Manitoba Hydro warns farmers after tower damaged by tractor:
He added it was the third time in the past few days where farm equipment has damaged Hydro infrastructure, following similar incidents that caused local power outages near the southern Manitoba community of Oakville and the community of Russell in western Manitoba.
"Our main message here is safety. Farmers need to be very careful around Hydro equipment because it's potentially dangerous," Chura said, adding farmers using public roads should apply to Hydro for a clearance permit to identify safe routes for moving tall equipment.
"The risk of electrocution is great in these situations."
Damage to overhead power lines, poles and towers can also result in outages affecting service to hospital, police and fire stations, which can affect public safety, he said.
Chura said generally speaking, when a farmer's machinery comes into contact with Hydro equipment, the farmer is responsible for the cost and typically has insurance to cover the damage.
Last year, farm equipment made contact with Hydro infrastructure 136 times, with cultivators and air seeders being the top two culprits, Chura said.
Adrien Sala, the provincial minister responsible for Manitoba Hydro, said in an emailed statement Friday the province appreciated how quickly Hydro repaired the damage and said Hydro's "built in reliability in the system allowed them to switch and quickly address the issue with little impact to customers."
With files from Rosanna Hempel